Category: Thame news

THAME Town Council is to consider the future of parking in Thame, following a report commissioned by the 21st Century Thame Partnership.
The report, called Parking For All, has already been presented to both the council’s Traffic Advisory and the Policy and Resources committee and will now go before the Planning committee and eventually the full council.
The report’s authors, The Transport and Environment arm of the Partnership, looked at residential, visitor and business parking in the town centre and have made several recommendations including providing additional parking near the Southern Road Recreational ground, a designated parking area for businesses and extending the current Residential Permit scheme for people who live in the town centre.

Parking throughout Oxfordshire is due to be de-criminalised from April 2008, when parking restriction enforcement will no longer be carried out by Traffic Wardens on behalf of the police but contracted out by the county council or in some cases, the district council.

PIED PEDALLER, the Thame toy shop, has been given notice to quit its North Street premises.
The building, which was bought five years ago by Oxfordshire County Council with a view to turning it in to a new library, must be vacated by February 24.

THE next Swap Shop is on Saturday, March 10, NOT February 20, as previously reported.
It will be held in Christchurch, Thame, and NOT the Town hall, where last Saturday’s event took place.
Apologies for any confusion.

THAME awoke this morning to find itself mantled in a 2cm covering of snow.
Despite presenting motorists with a slippery and slow journey to work first thing, those school children lucky enough to be walking to school, could be seen making the most of it. They threw snowballs at each other in the time honoured way and at the Churchill Play area, en route to both Lord Williams’s Lower school and Barley Hill Primary school, several snowmen appeared, complete with carrots for noses, twigs for arms and biscuits for eyes.
By Mid-day, the sun had appeared and melted most of the laying snow. But, though Thursday should be a dry day, more snow showers are forecast for the early hours of Friday morning.

THIEVES and counterfeiters who use car boot sales to sell stolen property and pirate goods have been targeted in a county council investigation.
The probe took place in 2006 and found that, in the vast majority of cases, car boot sales attracted legitimate sellers, who provide a place to shop that is highly valued by thousands of local consumers.

However, councillors also found evidence that a rogue minority were trying to take advantage of the traditionally less regulated environment afforded by car boot sales.
Councillors heard from people who were concerned that the Kassam Stadium car boot sale in Oxford and a giant event near Tetsworth, sometimes included pirate DVDs, and had some age-restricted products such as pornography and knives being sold without the proper safeguards.

While it was harder to observe with absolute certainty any stolen property, councillors did see some smuggled or counterfeit cigarettes being sold at the car boot sale in Drayton (near Abingdon).

They also learnt that some sellers who buy and sell regularly are legally classified as ?traders?. However, by not declaring this fact they are duping the public into lower levels of consumer protection.

Councillors heard that the Police and Trading Standards are increasingly concerned about the role that car boot sales play in supporting criminal activity.

A number of joint overt and undercover operations have taken place in the past year to gather intelligence about who is trading at local events.

CODES OF PRACTICE
Some areas of the country, such as Kent and Nottingham, have recently enacted their own local laws to tighten their control over the second hand trade in general. Oxfordshire councillors felt this was ultimately not cost-effective and instead gave their support for the voluntary Code of Practice recently introduced by Trading Standards. This aims to ensure that the organisers of events take greater responsibility and report anything suspicious or untoward to the authorities.

Nigel Strick, the Head of Oxfordshire County Council’s Trading Standards said: “This report is good news at a time when the Chancellor is announcing plans to reduce the abuse of copyright and intellectual property, aimed at catching criminals and explicitly targeting people who sell counterfeit CDs and DVDs at car-boot sales.
“We should not forget that in the main car boot sales are good events that people enjoy. We want to help them stay enjoyable by removing the persistent criminal minority that make considerable profits from breaking the law and poses a risk to genuine consumers and traders.?

The published report can be read on the county council?s website at www.oxfordshire.gov.uk.

A FREE exchange of unwanted items, or Swap Shop, held in Thame on Saturday proved to be very popular ? so much so that a second one has been planned for February.
A giant panda, a bed side table, clothes, DVDs, toys and a variety of bric-a-brac were amongst the unwanted items taken along to Thame town hall, as a way of diverting waste that would otherwise end up in landfill sites.

Thame Waste Action Group (TWAG) is holding another Swap Shop on Saturday, February 20, from 10am to 1pm in the Town Hall, High Street, Thame.

For further information please contact Alison Isherwood, 21st Century Thame Project Officer on 07944 175633 or e-mail ai@21stcenturythame.org.uk

A PLEA for more people to apply to become Police Community Support Officers, was made at a public meeting held in Thame to roll out a new Neighbourhood Policing initiative by Thames Valley Police.
TVP’s Martin Judd, who is currently responsible for trying to recruit five more PCSOs for the Thame area, said at the meeting on Monday that he was struggling to find applicants. He made a plea for local people to step forward for the role, which Thame Town Cllr Owen Davies called: “a great asset to the town.”

Police community support officers are uniformed support staff whose role is to support the work of police officers working within a community.
They use their limited powers to tackle lower level crime, disorder, nuisance and anti-social behaviour which helps free up time for regular officers to concentrate on more serious crimes and incidents.

They carry out high visibility patrols aimed at helping dramatically increase the police service presence throughout Thames Valley and have a crucial role to play in the drive towards neighbourhood policing.

See Link
for more details.

Police are appealing for witnesses and have issued safety advice to motorists following a robbery on the A4010 near Princes Risborough at about 4.50pm yesterday (17/1)
A 31-year-old man was driving a black Honda Type R approaching the Black Horse roundabout when a white van drove into the back of his car.
Following the collision, both vehicles pulled off the main road, whereby two men from the white van approached the victim. One man reportedly said he had a knife.
At the same time, he held something to the victim?s side. The victim immediately backed away, but he had left his car running and it was driven off.

Det Sgt Jason Liles, the officer investigating the robbery, said: ?We think before the collision the transit van may have performed a dangerous overtake which may have caused other drivers to take notice of it.
?I would like witnesses to come forward and provide any information which could help us find the robbers.
?They may think what they have seen is insignificant, but it could prove invaluable to the investigation.
I am particularly interested in speaking to anyone who has taken details of or has information in relation to the van.
?Please contact me at High Wycombe Police Station on 0845 8 505 505 or, if you don?t want to talk to police or give your name, call the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.?

Safety advice

Det Sgt Liles is asking people involved in road accidents to:
* If at all possible stop in a busy location which is well lit, possibly covered by CCTV
* Ensuring where possible that a phone call is made to family or friends confirming where they are, what has happened and also taking note of the registration of the other vehicle (all prior to getting out of their vehicle)
* If at all suspicious of the circumstances or persons involved or if you don?t feel safe in stopping and speaking to the persons concerned, drive to the nearest police station where details can be exchanged.

You can also give information to the police in person by visiting any police station. To find out the opening times and location of your local station please call 0845 8 505 505 or visit: www.thamesvalley.police.uk/bcu/buckinghamshire/bcu-info/stations.htm

THE Police are appealing for witnesses and have issued safety advice to motorists following a robbery on the A4010 near Princes Risborough at about 4.50pm yesterday (17/1).
A 31-year-old man was driving a black Honda Type R, approaching the Black Horse roundabout, when a white van drove into the back of his car.
Following the collision, both vehicles pulled off the main road whereby two men from the white van approached the victim. One man reportedly said he had a knife.
At the same time, he held something to the victim?s side. The victim immediately backed away, but he had left his car running and it was driven off.

Det Sgt Jason Liles, the officer investigating the robbery, said: ?We think before the collision the transit van may have performed a dangerous overtake which may have caused other drivers to take notice of it.
?I would like witnesses to come forward and provide any information which could help us find the robbers.
?They may think what they have seen is insignificant, but it could prove invaluable to the investigation.
I am particularly interested in speaking to anyone who has taken details of or has information in relation to the van.
?Please contact me at High Wycombe Police Station on 0845 8 505 505 or, if you don?t want to talk to police or give your name, call the Crimestoppers charity on 0800 555 111.?

Safety advice

Det Sgt Liles is asking people involved in road accidents to:
* If at all possible stop in a busy location which is well lit, possibly covered by CCTV
* Ensuring where possible that a phone call is made to family or friends confirming where they are, what has happened and also taking note of the registration of the other vehicle (all prior to getting out of their vehicle)
* If at all suspicious of the circumstances or persons involved or if you don?t feel safe in stopping and speaking to the persons concerned, drive to the nearest police station where details can be exchanged.

You can also give information to the police in person by visiting any police station. To find out the opening times and location of your local station please call 0845 8 505 505 or visit: www.thamesvalley.police.uk/bcu/buckinghamshire/bcu-info/stations.htm

WELL over a hundred Thame residents gathered at the town hall last night, to have their say on the issues that concern them most in their town, and came up with three priorities for a proposed ?Neighbour Action Group? to tackle.
The public meeting was one of three planned for the area (that for Chinnor tonight has been postponed because of the bad weather), to roll out Thames Valley Police?s new initiative, Neighbourhood Policing.
Neighbourhood Policing is a bottom-up, community and police partnership designed to tackle crime in a citizen-focused way. In other words, the community forms a partnership with local police who then put extra resources into tackling those crimes that most concern local people. Other agencies within the NAG also consider what they can do to help tackle the problems identified.
At last night?s meeting, residents were given the opportunity to express their particular concerns whilst police officers listed each one. Then all present were given traffic light-coloured stickers to put against the three issues that most concerned them in order of preference.
The main issues of concern that came out of the meeting were:

Vandalism to Motor vehicles in Park Street, Chinnor Road
Vandalism in Pearce Way
Drunkenness, urinating, swearing and aggressive behaviour in Lincoln Place, the alley way beside the Co-op
Vandalism and rowdy behaviour in Churchill Crescent, Southern Road in fine weather
Lack of Police visibility at critical times
Speeding ? Aylesbury Road, Chinnor Road, Oxford Road
Illegal parking ? Kings road, Queens Road, Aylesbury Road, Horton Avenue and other locations
Anti-social use of motorbikes on Phoenix Trail
Lack of activities for young people ? seen as a cause of much of the anti-social behaviour
Lack of police station manning in the evening
Lack of feedback on reported crimes
Lack of an effective response when Police call centre is contacted to report crime
Litter ? particularly on the Phoenix Trail
Offensive graffiti at the Skate Park

All age groups were represented at the meeting, the priority of the young men there appearing to be a proper, official dirt-bike track behind the sewage works, where currently they have built an unofficial one of their own. They were desperate for a local builder or someone with access to mechanical machinery, to help them cut down bushes and some trees, and to mound up earth to form a challenging track.
The suggestion is currently being considered by the town council and 21st Century Thame Partnership.

The top three priorities for those Thame citizens who voted emerged as:
First: Lack of youth provision
Second: Abuse of alcohol
Third: Vandalism

What will happen next?

Representative of local interest groups at the meeting were invited to put themselves forward to become part of the Neighbourhood Action Group for Thame, which will be launched around April next.
In the meantime, up-dates will be published in the local press and to organisations and posters will appear around the town.

Reassurances were made that although priorities had been established, the other matters of concerne raised at the meeting will not be ignored but looked at by the police?s neighbourhood teams.
It was explained that all the problems discussed were not new problems and would therefore not be able to be solved quickly, but assurances were made that they would be dealt with.

See: Link
For more information and background to Nieghbourhood Policing.

Photo: Diane Jackson, one of Thame’s PCSOs involved in Neighbourhood Policing